A week ago, a compromise Senate deal on health reform nixed a public insurance option and replaced it with provisions letting those 55 or older buy into Medicare and allowing nationwide nonprofit private plans overseen by the federal Office of Personnel Management. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), who opposes the public option, seemed to be in agreement. By last Sunday, however, Lieberman had changed his mind. According to The Boston Globe, the Medicare buy-in became as objectionable to him as the public option. His explanation for the flip-flop is that expanding Medicare would add to the federal deficit, but he came to this conclusion before the Congressional Budget Office had done its analysis. Senate Democratic leaders have now laid out an ambitious timetable for passing the health care bill on Christmas Eve. To be successful, the plan assumes Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will have three key elements before the weekend: the bill's cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office; the legislation completely written and available to the public; and assurance from all 60 members of his caucus that they will vote for the package. “There will be good things for seniors in the Senate bill. However, the House bill is far superior, and we will work tirelessly to include specific pieces from the House, like the public option, and to exclude the Senate’s excise tax on higher-cost insurance plans, when the bill gets to conference committee,” said Barbara J. Easterling, President of the Alliance. She continued, “The Senate bill includes some relief for plans with early retirees as well as delivery system reforms that may lead to lower costs in the long run. And Senate leaders have made a commitment to close the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole, which is so important to seniors. The Alliance continues to insist that employers pay their fair share, and that genuine health care reform must bring down health costs, hold insurance companies accountable, and assure that Americans can get the health care they need.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted against an amendment to loosen prescription drug importation rules as part of the health care bill. The measure had been sponsored by a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). However, it fell short of the 60 votes needed for approval – the final tally was 51 in favor, 48 opposed. Click on here for the complete results of the vote. Dorgan criticized an alternative amendment, sponsored by senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, both New Jersey Democrats, and Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE), as inadequate, because it would only allow the importation of drugs if the federal government’s health secretary certified they were safe and lowered costs. This amendment also fell short of the 60 votes needed for approval; the vote was 56 in favor, 43 opposed. Those results are available here. Since last Friday, Alliance members had sent more than 3500 letters to all Senators urging them to vote in favor of the Dorgan-Snowe amendment.
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